The Hanging Tree
by Annabeth-TheTributeThatLived
Summary: "Are you, are you coming to the tree? Wear a necklace of rope side by side with me. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be if we met up at midnight at the hanging tree."
1. The Hanging Tree

**Again, I swear to god, this is a one shot. I have the entire rest of my main story written, I'm just going to stick with one update a day so people don't get confused. Anyway, since I have my main story all written out and my SYOT doesn't start until Friday, I figured I'd write this, because it's been in my head for a while.**

**Background: Gale moved to District 2, and Peeta's there for work. Katniss and Peeta are recently married, and Gale doesn't know. Gale decides to call Katniss, and Katniss recognizes the District 2 area code and assumes it's Peeta.**

**Gale's POV**

"Peeta?" Katniss says. "Peeta, I'm pregnant."

I'm shocked. I was calling Katniss from my home in District 2 to apologize about Prim. I met up with Beetee after the war, and he confirmed that it was the Capitol's bombs that killed Prim. Even though it wasn't our fault, I wanted to apologize, and I felt like she deserved to know. When she gives me her news, my eyes go wide, and my jaw drops open.

"Peeta?" she asks. "Are you there?" I hang up the phone.

I walk over to the couch, cradling the cordless phone in my hands. I was hoping, dreaming that Katniss would be willing to start a life with me by her side; to forget about Peeta. Clearly, that wasn't going to happen. I look out my window at the moon. The reliable moon that I know will be the same whether I'm in District 2, District 12, District 8, or even the Capitol. Even the arena, from what Katniss told me.

I decide to go for a walk, maybe do some hunting. That always made me feel better in 12. I get some rope, wire, nets and a knife for snares, and sling a bow over my shoulder. I grab some arrows and set off for the woods. It isn't the same woods as back home, but it's close enough to be comforting. It brings back memories; the days in the summer when Katniss and I would go swimming in the lake and eat katniss tubers in the house her dad made. The day that I kissed her for the first time. Even the first day we met when I accused her of stealing from my snare line.

Almost as quickly as they came, the good memories dissolve into the nighttime breeze. I stare down in my hunting bag at my supplies, and realize I haven't set any snares. Oh well. I keep walking, feeling more depressed and empty than before until I come across a large tree with a particularly sturdy branch about 20 feet off the ground. I start climbing the tree until I get to that branch. I sit on it and begin to tie a noose around the tree, and it dangles about 3 feet off the bottom of the branch. I slide the rope around my neck, and I'm about to swing my legs over the edge.

Do I really want to do this? No. No, I can't.

I take the rope off of my neck and take the knife out of my bag. I carve a message into the trunk of the tree.

_K,_

_You're pregnant. Real or not real?_

_-G_

Content with the message, I put the rope back around my neck and position my feet so they're dangling off the limb. I take a deep breath, close my eyes and allow myself to fall off out of the tree.

The world goes an even darker black than what I could have ever imagined, even though my eyes were closed. then, all at once, the darkness is replaced by a blinding, bright white light. When I open my eyes, a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a white dress is looking at me.

"Hello Gale," she says. "I've been expecting you."

**A/N: What did you guys think? Usually, I'm not a fan of Gale, but... I don't know, this just kind of crept up on me, I guess.  
****And before you ask, yes, the girl at the end was Prim.**


	2. Epilogue

**A/N: ****Bet you thought you'd seen the last of this.**

* * *

**Katniss's POV**

I'm sitting on the couch in Victor's Village, curled up at the end and watching the news. Right now, they're covering a story about the advancement in fishing techniques in District 4, which of course makes me think of Finnick. I take a deep, steady breath, and begin my list.

_My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am thirty-two years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games twice. The Hunger Games are over. __It is safe for me to have children. I am pregnant with Peeta's child._

I wonder why Peeta just hung up on me yesterday. I told him I was pregnant, and he hung up. I mean, it was Peeta, right? The area code was District 2. Who else do I know in District 2? Enobaria? Not likely.

"In other news," the reporter says. "Former rebellion Gale Hawthorne, originally from District 12 was found hanging dead from a tree last night in the woods surrounding District 2. In the branch above him was a bag of hunting supplies and a knife, which he seemed to use to carve this message in the tree."

Gale is... dead? I can't believe it, it just doesn't make sense. Why would he hang himself? As soon as the camera cuts to the message carved on the tree trunk, my confusion dissipates.

_K,_

_You're pregnant. Real or not real?_

_-G_

Real.

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**A/N: Hope you guys liked the unexpected epilogue! I wrote it after it was pointed out to me that I could die if I didn't.**


End file.
